Senator Ted Cruz

tried to and they actually had it attached to the the continuing resolution at the end of the year and then it dropped out at the at the end of the day and so here here's how this this happens when the first lady wanted to come uh she came and we invited multiple victims to tell their stories and it was very powerful uh but we also invited the speaker of the house

And and the the majority leader in the House. And so both Speaker Johnson and and Leader Scalise came and both Mike and Steve are good friends. But look, one of the challenges of getting any legislation to move in in either body is getting leadership to prioritize it. There are lots of priorities or lots of people pulling in all sorts of different directions.

And and the the majority leader in the House. And so both Speaker Johnson and and Leader Scalise came and both Mike and Steve are good friends. But look, one of the challenges of getting any legislation to move in in either body is getting leadership to prioritize it. There are lots of priorities or lots of people pulling in all sorts of different directions.

And and the the majority leader in the House. And so both Speaker Johnson and and Leader Scalise came and both Mike and Steve are good friends. But look, one of the challenges of getting any legislation to move in in either body is getting leadership to prioritize it. There are lots of priorities or lots of people pulling in all sorts of different directions.

And so you're always battling to say, OK. This should be high enough up on the priority list to move. And the fact that the first lady leaned in now makes it a certainty. Both the speaker and the majority leader committed the House will take it up and they will pass it. And I think they're going to do so quickly. And Elliston Berry, so Elliston was there, and she's from Texas.

And so you're always battling to say, OK. This should be high enough up on the priority list to move. And the fact that the first lady leaned in now makes it a certainty. Both the speaker and the majority leader committed the House will take it up and they will pass it. And I think they're going to do so quickly. And Elliston Berry, so Elliston was there, and she's from Texas.

And so you're always battling to say, OK. This should be high enough up on the priority list to move. And the fact that the first lady leaned in now makes it a certainty. Both the speaker and the majority leader committed the House will take it up and they will pass it. And I think they're going to do so quickly. And Elliston Berry, so Elliston was there, and she's from Texas.

She is a 15-year-old girl, and what happened to her, she's from Aledo, Texas, up in North Texas. And what happened to her is she woke up one morning, and she was in ninth grade, and she was getting all these texts and calls from her friends. And it turns out a classmate of hers, a boy in her class,

She is a 15-year-old girl, and what happened to her, she's from Aledo, Texas, up in North Texas. And what happened to her is she woke up one morning, and she was in ninth grade, and she was getting all these texts and calls from her friends. And it turns out a classmate of hers, a boy in her class,

She is a 15-year-old girl, and what happened to her, she's from Aledo, Texas, up in North Texas. And what happened to her is she woke up one morning, and she was in ninth grade, and she was getting all these texts and calls from her friends. And it turns out a classmate of hers, a boy in her class,

took a perfectly innocent picture of her from social media and used an app, an AI app, to create a deep fake that turned her picture into naked pictures. Now, it wasn't real, but anyone looking at it would think it was real. It appeared to be real. And then this... Ninth grader emailed it or not emailed, but sent it on Snapchat to all of her classmates.

took a perfectly innocent picture of her from social media and used an app, an AI app, to create a deep fake that turned her picture into naked pictures. Now, it wasn't real, but anyone looking at it would think it was real. It appeared to be real. And then this... Ninth grader emailed it or not emailed, but sent it on Snapchat to all of her classmates.

took a perfectly innocent picture of her from social media and used an app, an AI app, to create a deep fake that turned her picture into naked pictures. Now, it wasn't real, but anyone looking at it would think it was real. It appeared to be real. And then this... Ninth grader emailed it or not emailed, but sent it on Snapchat to all of her classmates.

And so she woke up, you know, just in tears because all of her classmates. I mean, look, remember how hard freshman year is. It's hard to be a teenager. And the nightmare, you're a teenage girl and suddenly all your friends think they're looking at naked pictures of you. And and and there was nothing she could do about it. The boy they found out who did it.

And so she woke up, you know, just in tears because all of her classmates. I mean, look, remember how hard freshman year is. It's hard to be a teenager. And the nightmare, you're a teenage girl and suddenly all your friends think they're looking at naked pictures of you. And and and there was nothing she could do about it. The boy they found out who did it.

And so she woke up, you know, just in tears because all of her classmates. I mean, look, remember how hard freshman year is. It's hard to be a teenager. And the nightmare, you're a teenage girl and suddenly all your friends think they're looking at naked pictures of you. And and and there was nothing she could do about it. The boy they found out who did it.

And he did not get in significant trouble. And she was frustrated out of her mind. Now, it's kind of a cool story. how the take it down legislation happened, which is she's a Texan, she's a constituent. And so her mother called my office and described what had happened to her daughter and said, look, can y'all help us with this? And my team brought it to my attention.

And he did not get in significant trouble. And she was frustrated out of her mind. Now, it's kind of a cool story. how the take it down legislation happened, which is she's a Texan, she's a constituent. And so her mother called my office and described what had happened to her daughter and said, look, can y'all help us with this? And my team brought it to my attention.

And he did not get in significant trouble. And she was frustrated out of her mind. Now, it's kind of a cool story. how the take it down legislation happened, which is she's a Texan, she's a constituent. And so her mother called my office and described what had happened to her daughter and said, look, can y'all help us with this? And my team brought it to my attention.

And I said, look, this is horrible. Let's do something about it. And so Elliston was actually the inspiration for this legislation because I heard what happened to her. And I said, this isn't right. And so we drafted the bill, and we invited Ellison and her mom, Anna, to come up to D.C., and they were at the press conference where we introduced the bill. And, Ben, it was striking.